Last night I watched a documentary on the life of Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder on ESPN. He along with Brent Musburger and Irv Cross used to do the NFL Today program on CBS. It was the first of its type. Jimmy the Greek became a household name among football fans. It was sad to recall how Jimmy the Greek's tongue got him in trouble and basically ended his sportscasting career. It made me think and pray through the below quotes and Scripture.

It is hardly an exaggeration to say that half of the miseries of human life spring from the reckless and malignant use of the tongue. And these wicked tongues generally wag fastest behind a person’s back, and amid the excitement of social interaction. We judge these sins of the tongue all too lightly, until we ourselves are injured by them. -  Samuel Cox, The Pilgrim Psalms, (1885 AD)

Do any of you struggle with criticizing others?  From where does this tendency come?  John Calvin declares that criticizing others issues forth from the root of bitterness and jealousy within ourselves, which we have not allowed Christ to extract.  He calls it “a vice under which hypocrites commonly labor, that is the impiety of the tongue in detraction...  They who have put off the grosser vices are especially subject to this disease.  He who seems brilliant in some outward show of sanctity, will set himself off by defaming others, and this under a pretense of zeal, but really through the lust of slandering...  They seek praise from the defects of others” (Commentary on James, pp.298-299). Ouch! Let us all pray Psalm 141:3 for ourselves today:

"Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips."